A Leaf
by Areku
Summary: After the destruction of Fairy Park Kazuhiko is left alone to mourn. But is he really alone? The leaf tattoo on his hand hasn't disappeared yet, so is it all over?


I use the terms and translations to quotes that appear in the fan done Clover scripts (1-3 by Fuu, 4 by Kristin). I've been clinging to them for years, and now I find it rather hard to reattach myself to the Mix translation.  
  
This is the prologue to, what I hope will be, a longer work that's still under construction.  
  
CLAMP and some other people own Clover, I'm just borrowing the characters for this tribute to the series. If that's illegal I'll happily take it down. Just please don't sue me.  
  
  
  
  
  
A Leaf  
  
By Areku  
  
  
  
She only said 'take me', I never asked about the return trip. --Kazuhiko Clover volume 2  
  
+ + + +  
  
I'm lying on a hospital bed right now. I've been passing my days lying on my back staring at the ceiling. It's one of those ceilings with nifty patterns in the plaster; I've always wondered how they did that...  
  
Why, you ask.  
  
Well staring at the ceiling helps me ignore the radio playing, or did you mean to ask 'why are you in the hospital'?  
  
Well that's simple, I was on an escort mission to Fairy Park. We'd reached the park, and I was protecting the little girl that I had escorted. The wizards in Parliament attacked us...they were the ones who sent me on the mission. The child was an incredibly powerful 'clover' who could destroy the world if she wanted, and that's pretty much why they wanted to kill her...or maybe, were they trying to kill me?  
  
  
  
Okay, so it's not really simple.  
  
  
  
Anyway that mission is over, and the girl is gone. No, I don't know where.  
  
I wonder if she's still in Fairy Park somewhere, wandering around, singing...but that's silly-- I've been told Fairy Park is also gone.  
  
The news reported that Fairy Park exploded, but I won't believe it just by their saying so. After all, they also said that no one died in the incident. But if Fairy Park had truly exploded than there would have been casualties. One casualty: her.  
  
But the comment on casualties could also be government propaganda, released by the wizards. No one knew about the four-leaf, so why mention a girl named 'Suu' to the public now? But that only adds complications, because if the wizards influenced the release of the 'no deaths' couldn't they also have released the 'explosion' part too?  
  
But the news broadcasters weren't the only ones to report that. My comrade/commander back from my military days, Gingetsu, also said that Fairy Park exploded. Since he was there, he saw it all. I'll trust his say so.  
  
Actually, I was there too. But I had passed out from my injuries. The injuries I got protecting her...  
  
I'd rather not think about this mess; it's...just...painful. No, no, not like that. My head hurts, and I might have forgotten to take that painkiller again.  
  
I wish I could get away from it somehow. I don't know if it's just thoughts of 'her' that are frustrating, or what the wizards did, or maybe it's from where they stitched me together. I've been laying here for days moaning, and I know no matter how much I complain I'll never get away from it...or should I say 'her'?  
  
She was just a naive child who knew little or nothing of the world around her. She had never seen and certainly never heard of the things that the rest of the world considers common. But I did feel sorry for her. She was always in that warehouse, with only the dolls to keep her company. Alone...  
  
The four-leaf clover part of it was pretty bizarre. I still don't know what to think of it. But she was so serious when she told me-- serious and sad. It was so alien to everything I've seen, but at the same time it made sense, and I believed her.  
  
Especially after seeing the tattoo...and seeing her powers.  
  
All the pieces fit in place.  
  
  
  
Suu...we were united in our grief over Oruha's death.  
  
I wonder if _you_ cried?  
  
  
  
Anyway, it's all over now...  
  
I roll from my back onto my left side, I'd rather stare out at the room than at the ceiling. I bring my left hand up next to my face. Then I notice the leaf. The code word that General Kou gave me, before starting the mission.  
  
"...It will disappear once you are done," she said.  
  
But my mission is over, and it isn't gone.  
  
Now I'm really confused.  
  
So if it isn't gone what's left for me to do?  
  
Is Suu still alive somewhere, waiting for me to 'take her' to a new place? Or is there another Clover that wants out of its cage?  
  
I'm sure whatever happens next I will find myself with the CloverLeaf Project again.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Thanks go to Youhjibaracuda for beta reading this, and to my sister for being around to listen to my ranting (even though the latter refused to help me out with ideas etc, claiming that I never use them).  
  
As I said before this is the just the first part of a longer piece I'm still working on. If you have any suggestions, feel free to tell me- I'd love to hear them. bye for now. 


End file.
